On Tuesday, Milwaukee matched Dallas' 4 year, $12 million offer sheet to
Michael Redd and, thus, Redd remains a Buck. In a talent position, it was a
no brainer for Milwaukee to keep Redd and the Milwaukee staff managed to
convince owner Herb Kohl to bite the financial bullet. $3 million per year
for Redd is really cheap, but Milwaukee was already in luxury tax territory
and will have to pay a dollar to the tax for every dollar they pay Redd.
Dallas announced that they will not match the LA Clippers' 3 year, $6
million offer to restricted free agent Wang Zhizhi. A number of flimsy
excuses have been given for not matching, but it basically comes down to
money.
Don Nelson skipped Tuesday's game in Detroit to stay in Dallas and undergo
tests on his lower back, which has been bothering him since he wrenched it a
few weeks ago. The tests did not show any structural problems and it is
believed to be purely a muscular problem that needs time and rest to heal.
He should be on the bench for tonight's game. Nelson hurt his back when he
jumped out of his chair when his cat let out a loud howl. The cat had
gotten tangled up on something in the kitchen and was suspended upside down.
Nelson said that he also got scratched by the cat when he rescued it.
Dallas at Milwaukee (October 11)
On Friday, Milwaukee defeated Dallas 84-77 in the Mavs' first road
pre-season game. As Don Nelson previous told everyone, Steve Nash did not
play to rest him. The game was tied after 3 quarters, but Dallas only shot
6-22 FG in the 4th quarter. [I didn't listen to the game, it's a pre-season
game, and it's already 6 days gone, so that's all the write-up I'm giving to
it.]
Milwaukee Bucks 84, Dallas Mavericks 77 at Milwaukee (October 11)
1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT%
Milwaukee 22 23 18 21 - 84 .429 .333 .397 .692
Dallas 25 23 15 14 - 77 .356 .333 .353 .684
Halftime: Dallas 48-45
3rd Q: 63-63
Technicals: Ervin Johnson 10:24 2nd
Refs: Leroy Richardson, Eddie F. Rush, Matt Boland
Attendance: 14,021 (cap. 18,717)
Did not play due to injury: Steve Nash (sore left hand), Popeye Jones
(sprained right ankle), Tariq Abdul-Wahad (sore right knee)
Milwaukee Bucks REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Ray Allen 32 4-11 1-6 4-4 13 0-2 2 2 1 3 1
Sam Cassell 20 4-8 1-1 2-2 11 1-5 4 0 0 1 0
Tim Thomas 30 7-14 1-4 3-4 18 3-8 6 3 5 3 0
Anthony Mason 27 2-5 0-0 1-3 5 2-7 1 2 2 1 0
Dan Gadzuric 13 1-5 0-0 0-2 2 2-5 1 1 3 1 2
Toni Kukoc 29 3-7 2-5 3-4 11 0-5 8 4 1 0 0
Mike Wilks 28 1-5 0-1 0-0 2 0-3 3 0 1 1 0
Marcus Haislip 26 7-13 3-7 3-5 20 0-2 0 1 1 0 4
Ervin Johnson 19 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1-8 0 0 2 1 0
Ronald Murray 13 0-2 0-0 2-2 2 0-2 1 4 6 1 1
Cedric Henderson 3 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 1 0
Totals 48 29-73 8-24 18-26 84 9-47 26 17 23 13 8
Dallas Mavericks REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Michael Finley 30 2-10 0-1 3-4 7 0-3 5 4 2 2 0
Nick Van_Exel 27 5-13 3-5 1-1 14 2-3 3 2 3 1 0
Dirk Nowitzki 27 7-16 1-4 6-8 21 2-9 4 4 3 1 0
Raef LaFrentz 23 2-4 0-1 0-0 4 0-8 0 0 4 0 1
Shawn Bradley 13 1-6 0-0 0-0 2 1-3 1 1 1 0 3
Eduardo Najera 27 2-7 0-0 0-0 4 3-8 3 1 2 1 1
Raja Bell 22 4-9 0-1 1-2 9 3-7 2 0 4 0 0
Avery Johnson 21 3-6 0-0 2-2 8 0-0 1 1 0 0 0
Evan Eschmeyer 20 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 1-4 1 0 2 0 1
Adrian Griffin 16 1-6 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 3 1 1 0 0
Derek Hood 8 1-3 0-0 0-2 2 0-1 0 0 0 0 0
Adam Harrington 6 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 48 30-85 4-12 13-19 77 12-48 23 15 22 5 6
Dallas at Detroit (October 15)
Michael Finley stayed in Dallas as it was his turn to sit out a game. Donn
Nelson coached in place of his absent father.
It was an ugly sounding game to start with both teams struggling to score.
Detroit led 12-6 midway through the 1st quarter. Dallas scored the last 4
points of the quarter and Detroit led 25-18 after 1. Richard Hamilton had
11 points. It wasn't pretty in the 2nd quarter either as it was a parade to
the free throw line as Detroit attempted 11 free throws and Dallas attempted
8 free throws in the quarter. Detroit used an 20-7 run to go up 53-37 with
3 minutes to go. The teams traded 2 points and then Evan Eschmeyer hit 2
free throws and Steve Nash scored the next 8 points to get Dallas back in
the game. Tayshaun Prince hit a 3-pointer to cap the scoring in the quarter
and Detroit led 56-47 at the half. Dallas opened the 3rd quarter with some
defense as Adrian Griffin had 2 steals and Dallas slowly ate away at
Detroit's lead. Dallas pulled within 1 point twice near the end of the
quarter, but could not tie it or pull ahead. Eschmeyer committed a dumb
foul with 3 seconds remaining and Chauncey Billups hit 2 free throws to give
Detroit a 74-71 lead after 3. The game stayed close with Dallas still
unable to get over the hump. Dirk Nowitzki hit consecutive 3-pointers (and
you could actually hear over the radio the crowd groan when he hit the 2nd
3-pointer) and then Nick Van Exel hit a 3-pointer to give Dallas their
first lead of the game at 87-85 with 6:30 left. Dallas led 90-88 with 4:40
left and Detroit scored the next 10 points to go up 98-90 with 1:10
remaining. Van Exel broke the Mavs' slump with a 3-pointer and Raef
LaFrentz hit 2 free throws to bring Dallas within 3 points with 45 seconds
left. Clifford Robinson hit a jumper, Shawn Bradley got a layup, and
Hamilton hit 2 free throws to give Detroit a 102-97 lead with 16 seconds
left. It wasn't quite over as Nowitzki drained a 3-pointer [and was fouled,
without a call] with 12.4 seconds left to bring Dallas within 2 points.
Hamilton only hit 1 of 2 free throws, but Nowitzki air-balled a 3-pointer
with 8 seconds left and Dallas was out of time. Detroit won 107-102.
Looking at the boxscore, the thing that stands out the most is that Detroit
shot 40 free throws (27-40) while Dallas only shot 18 free throws (14-18).
Dallas actually made 6 more field goals than Detroit. The Pistons were
worried about turnovers before the game and that turned out to be an
accurate concern as they committed a very high 25 turnovers. Also
interesting to note that 17 points were scored in the last minute of the
game (9 by Dallas, 8 by Detroit). The player of the game was unquestionably
Dirk Nowitzki - he was feeling it. He had 37 points including 14-24 FG and
4-7 3-pointers and 9 rebounds in 43 minutes. Steve Nash shot poorly (5-17
FG), but had 12 points and 7 assists in 35 minutes. Raef LaFrentz was the
other high minute man with 13 points and 5 rebounds (and 5 fouls) in 36
minutes. So much for keeping the minutes down in the pre-season games.
Nick Van Exel spent 30 minutes on the court, often paired with Nash, and had
14 points. Those 4 were the only Mavs in double-digits. Shawn Bradley only
played 15 minutes due to foul trouble. He had 6 points on 3-4 FG and 6
rebounds along with his 5 fouls. Raja Bell received praise for his defense.
During a 3 minute span late in the 3rd quarter and early in the 4th, he took
3 charges. For Detroit, Richard Hamilton was the high man with 18 points,
but got most of his points from free throws as he shot just 4-13 FG and shot
10-13 FT. Chucky Atkins came off the bench to have 16 points including 5-6
FG and Mehmet Okur also came off the bench and had a double-double at 14
points and 10 rebounds including 6 offensive. Bradley and LaFrentz actually
saw a player pick up fouls quicker than they did. Zeljko Rebraca picked up
his first 2 fouls in the first 80 seconds of the game and had 4 fouls in 8
minutes.
Quotes
Rick Carlisle on if it felt like a regular season game: "It really did.
Dallas came out and really played hard and played great. They played their
guys normal minutes and I played a couple of guys a little longer than I
wanted to but it was so competitive and we were trying to win the game.
It's kind of a blur when you play against such a great offensive team.
Their shot-making was breathtaking at times and it was a good win for us."
Carlisle: "It got so competitive that we got into trying to win the game.
It's kind of a blur when you play a great offensive team like that. Their
shot-making is breathtaking at times. To win a game like this with 35
points off 25 turnovers is a miracle. It shows we dug in."
Carlisle: "They got us going faster than we wanted to go. That's part of
what makes them so good. They are able to get you to play at their tempo."
Carlisle on Okur: "During the exhibition season, you have to use guys to
find out about them and I thought he responded well. I don't think he's
ever going to back down from an opportunity to shoot the ball. His
rebounding and ability to get his hands on balls really was big for us
down the stretch."
Carlisle on Nowitzki's last attempt: "I think at that point he was so
exhausted he couldn't get the ball to the rim."
Chauncey Billups: "A big part of my job is trying to get everybody
involved. When I feel the time is right, I will start to assert myself a
little more. That's what point guards do; that's the job. I was telling
some guys that with me playing in the Western Conference last year, I know
that team. I was helping them with what sets to run and how we played the
pick and roll in Minnesota."
Jon Barry: "According to all you guys, I've got something to prove around
here because I was losing my minutes. I don't see it that way. It's
pre-season, and I don't put much stock in the pre-season. I'd rather play
better than bad and this was a little more of my normal feel tonight, the
way I normally play. They don't hand out any banners or rings for the
pre-season. I'm just trying to get ready for the real deal, when the
popcorn is popping. I'm trying to focus [on my defense]. I know we are a
defensive team and I don't really feel like chasing Steve Nash around the
court every night, but tonight I focused in on it and that's what I'm going
to continue to do."
Donn Nelson: "This was a real good test for us tonight. The guys knew going
into the game that this was one of the top teams in the east if not the top
team. Shoot, they're really playing well and they've added some nice
pieces. We came in here focused to try to win this game, but again, we
came up short."
Nelson: "Some good things came out of it. We forced some turnovers against
a pretty darn good team. We dug ourselves a hole in the 1st half, but we
competed well in the 2nd."
Nelson on Nowitzki: "The guys kept telling me to give him a blow, but he was
just too hot to take out. He was in one of the zones. It was one of those
Dirk nights that hopefully he'll have with a lot more frequency as his
career develops."
Nelson on Nowitzki's last shot: "That's a play that we've used in the past.
He had the option to shoot it or run a little hand off to Steve. Again,
when you're in one of those zones and feeling it, it just seems like
everything you throw up goes in."
Nelson on playing Nash and Van Exel: "I think those guys give us a 1-2
punch almost like those old Pistons days of Joe Dumars and Isiah Thomas.
You'll see that more as the year goes on. Clearly, Nick is one of our
better players. And at the end of games, you want to have your best
players on the court. For us to be clicking on all cylinders, we
definitely need those 2 guys to be able to play together at times."
Dirk Nowitzki: "Pre-season is not about winning, but of course, you never
want to lose games to competitors. It's pre-season, but I had some pretty
good shooting, especially in the 2nd half, but it doesn't really mean that
much. We still have 2 more weeks to work on our stuff."
Nowitzki on his last shot: "I just left it a little short. I probably
should have passed the ball to Steve, who was open. You have to believe
in your teammates that they can make the plays, and especially Steve, who
came up with so many big plays for us last year. So I probably should
have passed the ball."
Nowitzki on Detroit: "They have a good all-around team. They don't really
have an outstanding scorer, but they're solid defensively. Offensively
they can make shots from the outside, so they're going to be a tough team
to beat, especially at home."
Steve Nash on playing with Van Exel: "Neither one of us shot the ball great.
But I think you'll see that [the 2 of them playing together] quite often.
It should be a good combo for us."
Raja Bell on the charges he took: "If people haven't heard it enough yet,
I'll say it again: that's what we're stressing. That's what I'm here to
do. Some nights, you're in good position and pick up some charges. Other
nights, you can't buy a call."
Detroit Pistons 106, Dallas Mavericks 102 at Detroit (October 15)
1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT%
Detroit 25 31 18 32 - 106 .433 .643 .473 .675
Dallas 18 29 24 31 - 102 .473 .462 .471 .778
Halftime: Detroit 56-47
3rd Q: Detroit 74-71
Technicals: Ben Wallace 7:05 1st, Dallas defensive 3 seconds 7:46 2nd
Refs: Mike Callahan, Scott Foster, Pat Fraher
Attendance: 15,535 (cap 22,076)
Did not play due to injury: Michael Finley (slightly inflamed left knee
and his turn to skip a game), Popeye Jones (sprained right ankle), Tariq
Abdul-Wahad (sore right knee)
Detroit Pistons REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Richard Hamilton 24 4-13 0-1 10-13 18 1-6 3 3 5 0 0
Chauncey Billups 23 4-9 3-3 2-2 13 0-4 5 2 0 3 0
Ben Wallace 24 1-3 0-0 1-6 3 3-8 1 3 3 2 0
Michael Curry 23 1-2 1-1 0-0 3 0-2 2 0 2 0 0
Zeljko Rebraca 8 2-5 0-0 1-2 5 2-3 0 3 4 0 0
Clifford Robinson 36 3-10 0-2 1-3 7 0-2 2 4 4 1 2
Mehmet Okur 28 5-11 0-0 4-4 14 6-10 0 1 2 1 1
Chucky Atkins 25 5-6 2-2 4-4 16 0-2 2 2 3 1 0
Jon Barry 24 3-5 2-4 2-4 10 0-0 9 6 2 1 0
Corliss Williamson 21 4-7 0-0 2-2 10 1-3 2 1 4 2 0
Tayshaun Prince 4 3-3 1-1 0-0 7 0-0 0 0 2 0 2
Totals 48 35-74 9-14 27-40 106 13-40 26 25 31 11 5
Dallas Mavericks REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Steve Nash 35 5-17 0-1 2-3 12 2-3 7 3 4 1 0
Adrian Griffin 16 3-7 0-0 0-0 6 0-1 1 0 3 3 0
Dirk Nowitzki 43 14-24 4-7 5-7 37 1-9 2 2 2 3 1
Raef LaFrentz 36 5-9 0-0 3-4 13 4-5 2 1 5 1 2
Shawn Bradley 15 3-4 0-0 0-0 6 1-6 0 0 5 0 0
Nick Van_Exel 30 6-15 2-5 0-0 14 0-3 3 3 3 0 0
Raja Bell 28 0-5 0-0 2-2 2 1-2 2 2 4 0 0
Eduardo Najera 19 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0-2 0 2 3 0 0
Evan Eschmeyer 14 2-2 0-0 2-2 6 1-3 0 2 4 1 0
Avery Johnson 4 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 0-0 1 0 1 1 0
Totals 48 41-87 6-13 14-18 102 10-34 18 17 34 10 3
patricia